The Blitz
by American Soldier
Summary: Two friends, long lived, not what they seem. Are they for us...or against us? SemiDarkfic, all depending on how you look at things.
1. Shoot to Kill

_Shoot to Kill_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

University of California, Sunnydale:

The cafeteria was filled with students from all walks of life. Some had been lifelong residents of the haunted town, while others had had the misfortune of joining its populace simply because they hadn't had the grades to get into a better…or safer university. A few, however, were there because they felt they had a sacred duty to protect the town from the forces of evil, which so plagued it.

The Slayer, Buffy Summers, and her redheaded friend, Willow Rosenberg, the witch, were amongst those gathered inside the cafeteria. Alongside Buffy was her boyfriend, Riley Finn, the head commando of the Initiative. However, to their extraordinary embarrassment, they were in the company of one Xander Harris, who did not have the distinction of going to the same college as they were…or going to college, period. He had not been able to, and that was why he was there. To mooch off of their hard earned success.

Or, at least, that was their opinion.

In reality, the young man had simply found himself in need of food and, considering the fact that he had no money that he was able to access at the moment, he had believed that his friends would be happy to share a bit of their food with him. He had been wrong. So, now, as he ate one fry, all he had been willing to take, and just listened to them talk, he completely missed the subtle hints and tone of their voice…telling him to step off.

"Professor Walsh told me that I needed to spend more time with my classmates," Buffy turned her gaze pointedly at Xander, who wasn't paying much attention to the conversation at hand, "You know, she says I'm being cut off from my new world by remnants of the old, back in high school."

She completely forgot that Willow had been in high school with her. As did, in fact, the woman in question, herself.

"She did say that we were still needing to get acclimated to our new environment," she said in support of Buffy, still without enough backbone to stand up for her lifelong friend.

"Well, I need some help doing my TA work," he said to them, "Would you mind helping? I could use a few extra hands."

"Sure," they both agreed.

"We should get started," Willow said with a small grin.

"I have it on me right now," Riley lied.

They all looked pointedly at Xander, hoping that he would believe that they simply wanted him to leave so that they could get some work done…instead, they found him to be staring at the other side of the room. The three turned their own gazes to follow his eyes and found them to be locked onto an impeccably dressed man with green hair and a brown beard, his polished shoes clacking against the tile as they moved. He was smiling.

The Slayer felt her radar go off in an instant. This man was dangerous, she knew that much. Whatever he was doing there wasn't good. Slowly, she slipped her hand into her purse, intending on withdrawing a stake so that she could deal with this perp, only to stop short as he greeted a member of their table.

"Xander," he smiled widely as the Zeppo stood up to better meet him, "It is so good to see you again."

"…Hello, Matthew," their friend greeted him.

"Please, no need to be formal," his eyes glinted as he said this to Xander, "Just Matt, please. Ah, and this must be Miss Rosenberg," Willow blushed at being addressed directly, "She is even more beautiful than you made her out to be." She blushed even more so, then quietly began to rage as she realized that Xander must have talked about her, not liking it after…last year, "And this must be the Slayer, Miss Summers," he made to take her hand but, was interrupted as Buffy stood up and quietly growled at Xander.

"You told him who I am," she demanded.

"Please, no reason to get angry," Matthew stopped her before she ripped Xander's throat out, "I knew that you were the Slayer long before Mr. Harris did. And I am very sorry for the loss of your friend, Oliver Pike, to a vampire before you left."

Buffy did a fairly accurate imitation of a goldfish as she stared at him. She had never once mentioned her old boyfriend to any of the group…she didn't like to remember him. That alone was enough to prove to her that Xander hadn't mentioned her, but, it was enough to make her extremely pissed off.

"How do you know about that," she asked him, quietly.

"I have many friends inside LA," Matt said to her, "Most of them began watching you the second you were called. They were able to stop a vampire hit against your father."

She stopped in her attempt at ridiculing him for watching her. She didn't know what to say now that she knew that this man was either directly or indirectly responsible for saving her father. But, then, she didn't even know this man. How could she trust him?

Before she could continue on, Xander took control of the conversation.

"Matthew," he didn't obey the man's wishes of informality, "What is it that you want?"

"Do I need a reason to look up an old friend?"

Xander's look spoke for itself.

"Alright, alright," Matt admitted, "I do want something. Might we go outside and talk in private for a moment?"

"No," Buffy answered for him, "He doesn't go anywhere with y-"

"Sure," Xander remarked, taking the Slayer by surprise, "We'll go out to the quad."

"Xander, I don't want you-"

"The world doesn't always revolve around what you want, Buff," Xander remarked to her, causing all three of them to shut up in complete shock, before he turn to Matthew and said, "You lead, I'll follow."

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Buffy crouched down in the bushes as her friend and the stranger spoke. After they had left, Riley had had to leave for class, as had Willow, but she was free for a while. She wanted to know what power (she had come to the conclusion that Xander must be underneath a spell, one that made him completely hateful of her, all in order to sabotage her) this man had over him.

"…How's Nick doing," Xander asked Matthew.

"Pretty good," the two were sitting at a bench with their backs turned to her, "He and his cousin just got married in Omaha."

"Figures the hillbilly'd get married to his cousin," Xander and Matt shared a laugh.

"What about Samantha?"

"…Dead," Matthew answered solemnly, "Died of a vampire attack."

"She could handle vamps."

"Not fourteen."

Buffy blanched. Even she couldn't handle fourteen vampires alone…or could she?

"…Her brother?"

"Dead. Same attack."

"Damn. I liked them. …Ok, what do you want?"

Buffy perked her ears up at that. She was about to get the juicy bit.

"You know what I want."

"A blow job?"

She forced herself to remain silent. It was so unlike Xander to use that kind of language.

"That, but not from you…and…"

"The Rune Stone," she filed that away for later memory, "And how do you want it?"

"Whatever way it can come," he answered, "Just so long as it's through by next Tuesday. You know where it is?"

"I can get it to you tonight."

They began to talk about mundane things so, secure in her knowledge and in her belief that he was underneath a spell, she moved on, completely forgetting the fact that if he had been under a spell, he wouldn't have talked back.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Is she gone," Matt asked in boredom.

"Yeah," Xander answered him, "So, what do you really want?"

"…Do you trust me," Matt turned his gaze to Xander as he asked.

"No," his response was immediate.

"Good," Matt smiled at him, "I'm having problems…in the Sect."

"What kind?"

"Politics," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "They're starting to come up against me…they haven't done that to a Leader in years."

"And you figure it'll all stop once the company's topper comes back in?"

"That's part of it," Matt responded, "But not the point. There's…one job I was given to personally oversee the success of. Every time I had someone, picked someone, they failed. That's the main argument…they say I've lost my knack."

"I don't believe that," Xander reaffirmed him, "You never had it."

"But, I figure," he continued on, as though he hadn't heard Xander, "That if I have it completed, then they won't have anything to go against me on."

"You know why I left…politics suck, man. I won't get back involved because of them. Besides, I like being independent."

"Yet, you continue to hide from your friends. Why is that?"

"They wouldn't approve. They wouldn't understand."

"I don't doubt it. Your friends seem to be…terribly narrow-minded."

"They haven't seen the side of the world that I have."

"…Come back to the club tonight, Xander, and I'll make it worth your while."

"…I'll think about it."

With that, the bounty hunter stood and left his former contractor alone.


	2. Rune

_Rune_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Rupert Giles's Apartment Complex:

Giles, the retired Watcher in all his splendor, sat upon his couch, enjoying a nice cup of tea. He had just been freed of his demonian parlor a day ago and wanted to take a few moments to relax, knowing that the odds were that he wouldn't get many more of them. It was nearing the time when the Big Bad, as his children called it, tended to rear its ugly head.

Sure enough, not a moment after this thought passed through his brain, his front door came open.

"Thank you for knocking," he quipped to his Slayer as she rumbled through his house.

"I don't have time," she seemed pissed, "Giles, we have a problem. Have you ever heard of the Rune Stone?"

"…Yes, as a matter of fact, I have," the Rune Stone was an ancient relic, intended for use by practiced mages in translating texts from Arabia that spoke of healing magics, some of which were powerful enough to replace a missing limb, "Why? Has Willow been inquiring about it?"

"No," she sighed and said, "Today, Xander was with us for lunch and this guy in a suit came over and starting chatting us up, told us about how he knew I was a Slayer, and he asked Xander to speak with him. I tried to keep him safe from the guy but, he wouldn't listen, machoistic idiot, and he went to speak to him. Well, being the good friend that I am, I snuck off and spied on him. Turns out, whoever that guy was, he wanted Xander to find something called the Rune Stone. I think he has a magic spell all over Xander."

"Why," Giles asked, already confirmed in his belief over this matter.

"Because, he was just acting so…un-Xander-like."

"So, you didn't believe that he might have had a bad day?"

"How could he? He doesn't do anything all day."

"…" he counted to ten, "Buffy, there are three things that I noticed in your paraphrasing. One: you feel that Xander is a child in constant need of protection, when even mothers more concerned than you have let go already. Two: you believe that he is being machoistic, as you put it, when he has never once displayed such a thing. He's too shy for it. And, three, the sheer fact that you automatically assume that he is in danger is simply underestimating him. He really deserves better than that.

"Also, the Rune Stone cannot possibly entail any danger. All it is is, as you have yourself once said, a decoder ring. Its purpose is to translate ancient healing spells, all of which require white magic and, therefore, cannot be used by demons. Now, while I understand your concern over Xander, it really is none of your business. This man Xander met knows of your involvement in the world as the Slayer, most likely due to whatever profession he has...he could be a mage, for all you know. If Xander wishes to involve you in his affairs, then it's his choice. If not, then it's also his choice. Lord knows you do it enough with me, why can't you just let him do it with you?"

With that, the irate Englishman stood up and left his Slayer as he went outside.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Ambrosia:

Xander sighed as he entered the club. He hadn't been here since he was in middle school. Now, here he was, a grown man. Kind of sad.

It was dark, as usual, with heavy metal blasting down into his eardrums. There was no stage for a band, they never needed one. Ambrosia was unlike most clubs. Here, only a select few were welcomed inside, and those select few were amongst the most dangerous people on the planet. A few beings were amongst the most dangerous in their dimensions. Nice place.

Most of the people inside the club were dressed inside of gothic attire, with only few exceptions. He was one of the few, dressed inside of a pair jeans and a simple white shirt. The clubbers knew instinctively to draw away from him…only those without reason for fear would dare walk inside without a proper disguise...plus, they could easily sense his mark. Most were like him, with a few exceptions. The young man walked to the bar and sat down.

He waited for a moment, remembering, before the barkeep came to him. She was dressed inside the casual gothic wear, but there was one mark that stood out well against her black clothing…a red sphere, with a dove in the center, was tattooed along her neck. She was one of _them_. He didn't like her already.

"What can I get you, lover," she cooed to him in a playful voice…he knew it was only because he had both his short sleeves down…if he rolled his left sleeve up, then she would instantly back away in fear.

"…I don't know the pass code," she looked at him in surprise, "And the only reason why I'm here is because Matthew asked me to be here. If you know what's good for you," he caught her eye and held it tightly with his own, forcing her to recognize him for what he was, "You'll let me in right now."

Her heart was in her throat…almost literally. Still, she mustered enough courage to nod and gently placed her hand beneath the countertop. She caressed it for a moment, till she found the button…and applied just enough pressure on it to send him away.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Buffy Summers walked into the club with a little bit of fear. She had tailed Xander from his house, knowing that, in spite of Giles's little lecture towards her, she had to look after him. He was just a normal human, after all. He couldn't take care of himself. She had been surprised, though, when she had seen him enter the bleak club near the outskirts of town. She was just getting a vibe off the place…it spoke of all kinds of evil and danger. Yet, he had walked inside without anything akin to fear. It had simply strengthened her belief that he was under a spell.

She entered the club slowly, grateful that there hadn't been a bouncer, and stopped to get her head together before she could even get off the landing and go down the stairs. There was almost no color in the room, and even that was so dark that it could have been black. Everyone inside was dressed in gothic wear, black leather, and the like. Angel (She ignored the twinge of pain that she always had whenever she thought of her lover…ex-lover) would have liked it.

She gathered even more of her already dwindling courage and walked down the stairs onto the first floor. She noticed, immediately, the glares that were coming her way. She also noticed that everyone tended to go out of their way to avoid Xander, but, with her, they simply did everything they could to keep her from walking deeper inside. As she crossed the dance floor, people began to bunch up, apparently to keep her away, forcing her to squeeze by and, once or twice, even to use her Slayer strength to get through.

She stopped before reaching the bar to try and listen to what Xander was telling the barkeeper. She couldn't, however, not over the heavy metal. All she could tell was that the woman had a look of complete and unadulterated fear on her face. _Why would she be afraid of Xander?_, she asked herself, _He can't do anything._

She sighed in frustration and moved to keep going, only to walk right into a man as he passed by. He fell to the floor, spilling all the drinks he had been carrying. Buffy resisted the urge to drop to the ground and help him up. She had more important things to deal with right now. She made to move on, only to stop as she saw that Xander's seat at the bar was now vacated.

"What," she asked herself, "Where did he go?"

She began to move, fully intending on finding out what had happened to her friend, when she felt a powerful hand fall against her shoulder. She turned around, intending on shouting at whoever it was that dared to try and stop her, but felt all her words die in her mouth as she stared up into the mountain that was before her.

The man was at least seven feet tall, with dark skin, and a body that told of years of physical conditioning. She wouldn't have been surprised to find that he had been in the military. He was dressed in the ritualistic black garb, and was glaring down at her. She forced herself to remember that she was the Slayer, that she could take him if he decided to start something.

"You're paying for those, little girl," he said to her, his voice deep and gravelly.

"As soon as I find out what happened to my friend," she lied, fully intending on walking out of the club with her money intact.

"If your friend was that guy sitting up at the bar, I'd let it go," he said to her.

"Why," she asked, feeling her ire growing as she felt her inferiority begin to grow, she never did like feeling like she was less than what she was.

"He's done gone, girl," the mountain said to her, "Go and pay for our drinks, then get out of here…before one of us decides to kick you out."

Completely pissed off, the Slayer pulled back and let loose a powerful punch…only to gasp in shock as the mountain of a man caught her fist in his own hand.

"You punch like a girl," he snarled at her and he let loose with his own fist.

She tried to duck it but, instead, she felt the powerful blow strike her directly between the eyes. In an instant, the Slayer fell to the ground, the world swimming around her, before she fell into darkness.

It was two hours later when she woke up outside the club, with almost no memory as to why she was there.


	3. The Seeker's Club

The Seeker's Club

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Xander felt his body become light as a feather as the woman pressed the button. He forced himself to not react, knowing full well what was happening. As distinctly as he remembered it, he felt his body begin to speed up…then, fall as he came to where he needed to be. He noted that he was incased inside a spire of crystal…just as usual. Slowly, the crystal began to crack…then, it exploded in a mighty blast, sending out shards of crystal everywhere. The shards dissolved into water as they came to the stone floor.

Xander shook himself, trying to become readjusted to the shock of traveling to the Seeker's Club. He sighed and looked around.

He was in a small room, not much bigger than the bar he had been in. It was made completely of a strange, blue stone with only torches to light it. There was a skylight above him, one which showed a brilliant ocean of stars. Things hadn't changed since the last time he had been there. He turned his head to his left and noted that there was a set of double doors there, neither of which had a handle or knob so that he could open it.

Emblazoned upon the door was a dagger pointed straight down towards the ground. Landing upon the dagger was a dove, its talons clutching the ball-like structure that was upon the end of the handle. Along the blade of the dagger was a serpent, its body wrapped around the sharp blade like a rattler, its jaws outward, as though striking at whoever dared to approach the door.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_. That was the name of the Sect of Hunters, the one that he had been sold to oh so long ago.

He remembered…

Flashback:

_Amelia Harris gasped as she collected her breath. The trip to the place that her brother called 'The Seeker's Club' had been harrowing, almost forcing her to throw up her drink. She clutched onto her son as she stared around the room_.

"_Hello," she nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard the voice behind her and turned around quickly, still clutching onto her son as tightly as she could._

"_Oh, I beg your pardon," the man who had called out to her apologized quickly, "I didn't mean to startle you."  
_

_She clutched her chest as she tried to regulate her breath while Xander looked upon the man. He was dressed in a brown suit and polished, black shoes. He had brown hair, similar to his own, and green eyes. His smile told him as being a warm individual but, his gaze said something different. He automatically felt his fear begin to grow._

"_You must be Mrs. Harris," the man said to Amelia, "And that must be young Alex."_

"_Xander," he corrected the man._

"_Shush," Amelia snarled at him, "Um, yes, we are. And you…"_

"_Bradley," the man introduced himself as, "And I suspect you are here because of Roger's will?"_

_Amelia nodded. Her brother, Roger, had died two days ago, according to the letter she had gotten, and he had left a will for her. The will had said to come to 'Ambrosia' during the daylight hours and to ask the bartender to let her into 'The Seeker's Club.' There, the will had said, she would receive the rest of her benefits. She had almost declined when she had read that he wanted her to bring Alex with her…Roger had always liked the little five year old. Maybe he wanted her son to get something as well. If it was money, though, he wouldn't be keeping it for long._

"_If you would take a seat," Bradley said to her as he sat down in a plush, leather seat that she was certain hadn't been there before._

_She turned around and saw that there were two seats behind her, both of which she was sure that she hadn't seen there before. Sighing, the large woman took a seat, as did her son._

"_Can I get you anything," Bradley asked her, "A drink, something to eat?"_

"_You can get me what's in the will," Amelia said to him, already sick of not having a drink._

_He smiled at her disarmingly and she decided to take a look around, since this man wasn't so very forthcoming with information. She looked behind the man and saw a set of double doors with a crest on them…and forced herself not to recoil in fear as she saw the viper. Ordinarily, she didn't get scared of pictures but, for some reason, she found herself very scared of that emblem._

"_Well, let's get down to business," she turned her attention back to the suited man and smiled, grateful that he was starting to cooperate, "You are presently in the Seeker's Club. Obviously, you have no clue as to what that is so, as per your brother's will, I will inform you."_

"_Does it have something to do with that," she pointed towards the doors._

"_Yes," he said, not even looking to where she had pointed, "The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger. That is our Sect."_

"_Sect," Amelia asked, already confused._

"…_Your brother was a member. One of the best, in fact. He had to have been in order to be admitted into the Seeker's Club. We are a group of people who seek out things, sometimes people, in exchange for profit."_

"_Bounty hunters," Amelia questioned._

"…_Not exactly but, close enough. Our Sect is divided into two different groups: the regulars, who all stay in Ambrosia, and the best, who are welcomed into the Seeker's Club. Your brother was a member."_

"_What's in his will," she asked, bored already._

"…_Your brother supplied you and your husband with a monthly allowance, I believe," he reached into his pocket and withdrew an official looking document, "…A thousand dollars a month, along with paying off your mortgage and your bills. That thousand was meant to help support Alexander."_

"_That sounds about right," she and her husband used the money to buy booze and food._

"…_His will," Bradley pulled out another piece of paper, causing Amelia to sit on the edge of her seat, "States that 'Upon my death, the sum of ten thousand dollars should be deposited into my sister's account,'" she smiled happily as she realized that she could live for a few years off of that, "'With the following requirements,'" she felt her joy begin to die off at that, "'Alexander Harris be allowed to leave his parent's house in exchange for life amongst the members of The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger.'"_

_She didn't even have to think about the answer before she said 'yes.'_

End Flashback:

In retrospect, it was probably the best thing for him. He had been raised amongst the hunters, first by Bradley, then Nick. They had both taught him the fundamentals of being a bounty hunter. His first job had been when he was seven, he had been sent to Africa to help destroy a child slavery ring. That had been fun…in a very not-fun way.

He sighed and decided that he had had enough of the trip down memory lane. He wanted to get this over with and go back to his quiet life and, knowing Matthew, he didn't stand a chance at succeeding till he did what he wanted. He gathered his resolve and pushed open the double doors.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

The Dove represented the peaceful jobs that were in the Sect. Bookkeeping, contracting, intelligence, lawyers, representation. All the behind the scenes stuff for the bounty hunters.

The Serpent represented the members of the Sect who were either under cover in deep operations or who were behind enemy lines on a near-constant basis. Most of those were either in the Middle-East or Africa, with a few amongst the Colombians and in other dimensions.

The Dagger represented the people who worked with the police, other bounty hunting agencies, or who hunted the biggest prey they could. It was a requirement to become the Sect Leader, along with many more, to be a former member of all three branches. It was the only way that someone could understand the conclave.

Xander himself was a member of the Serpent and the Dagger. Every member had a tattoo to represent themselves, one that could only be seen and sensed by members of the Sect.

Behind the doors that were inside the reception hall of the Seeker's Club were often a great multitude of people, members of each branch. Those doors led to wherever the member wished to go…and Xander wished to go to Matthew, the current Sect Leader, and speak with him. The doors opened to reveal a lavish office in England, a fireplace roaring in the morning hours. Sat in the leather chair, reading a bunch of files and drinking from a glass filled with red wine, was the green haired Matthew.

He looked up upon hearing the door open and grinning.

"Xander," he put away his work and stood up to greet the man that was going to save his career, "Just the man I was hoping to see."

Xander said nothing and waited. Matt gestured to a seat, telling him to take it silently. The bounty hunter nodded and sat down before him, while Matthew sat back down on the other side of the desk.

"You are aware that you were followed to Ambrosia, right," Matthew asked, a look of merriment on his face.

"Yeah," he had seen Buffy a quarter of a mile away, her stealth abilities were nothing whatsoever, "She probably showed off that she was the Slayer and got herself tossed out the club."

"That is almost exactly what happened," Matt said with a grin, "Aardvark tossed her out the door after Cole knocked her out."

"Cole," Xander grinned upon hearing the familiar name, "Glad to see it wasn't Billy. He would've knocked her out, then knocked her up."

"Cole wasn't that impressed," Matthew muttered as his gaze became flinty, "He said that that had been the most pathetic fight he had ever been involved in. **One Punch**. The last Slayer he had fought had nearly killed him."

"Buffy isn't as good as she tends to think she is," Xander said with a grin, "She relies too much on her strength and endurance."

"Speaking of which, when does your contract end?"

"In a month," Xander's face became much happier as he said this, "It would have ended a few months back but, I took a summer reprieve."

"What exactly is your contract? I know you've got one but, I don't know the particulars."

"I was hired out by an unidentified client to keep Slayer Summers alive for at least four years. I already had the cover, being Willow's friend but, just in case, I pretended to be a lovesick puppy for a few years. Then, I fell for Cordy and that wouldn't fly anymore but, she didn't care. At least till last year, when my act of not being that great a fighter caught up with me. I almost got my contract taken away from me but, that changed when Faith went bad…Buffy didn't want to have another person go out of her control."

"What about Jesse," Matthew asked, already full-well knowing Xander's history with the Slayer.

"…I couldn't afford to blow cover," Xander answered, "When Willow, me, and Jess escaped out the mausoleum, we were outnumbered. We got separated. I would have used my weapons but, I had left them off so that I wouldn't get Buffy suspicious. I went back later to try and find him but, none of my sources were willing to tell me where to go. I tried searching along the sewers, tried from where we had left off, from where they had led us. By the time I got there, it was too late. He was turned. I high-tailed it out of there and followed Buffy, knowing that she wouldn't be able to tell that he wasn't a vamp, especially if she couldn't tell that Angel was."

"You saw that?"

"Of course. I'm a bounty hunter, I'm supposed to know all that. I knew everything that was happening with everybody."

"…The Fluke, as it was called?"

"I knew Willow would never let me leave during the summer unless something happened. I know her, and if we had an affair, she'd run back to Oz out of shame. Then, she'd just want me to get the Hell out. That would make my summer leave so much easier."

"You did that just to get away from them?"

"Actually, she started it by kissing me, I just took advantage."

"…You really are the cold bastard they made you out to be, aren't you?"

He smiled evilly.

"How much are you getting for this?"

"A lot. Actually, I want more."

"That goes against policy, man."

"Read my fortnightly reports. Enough of this, let's get to why I'm here."

Matthew sighed and reached into his drawer. He withdrew a set of documents and a map.

"If this job has me going anywhere, then I can't help," Xander said to him, "The contract is just too much to ignore."

"The contract is up tomorrow," Matt said to him with a grin, "I talked to the client, and they've agreed to let the time go due to complications…specifically, Buffy's running away. They figure that that would have been time for you, but, she ran. That's not your fault. All you were told to do was keep her alive. Plus, they're going to upgrade your pay by a quarter."

Xander stared at him blankly for a moment…then, he smiled.

"I'M FREE," he screamed as he leapt up and started doing the Snoopy Dance.


	4. The Job

_The Job_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

UC Sunnydale:

Buffy Summers walked into her dormitory, hoping to God that no one had noticed the misshapen bruise on her face. It was only a few minutes till dawn so, she hoped that Willow was here. She really needed her.

Thankfully, though, the redhead had just walked into the room after spending the night with Tara, practicing some spells, just before the blonde Slayer had walked into the room.

"Willow," Buffy said in a grateful tone as she entered the dorm, "Good. I need your help."

"With what, Buffy," Willow asked, stifling a yawn as she did so.

"It's Xander-"

"XANDER," Willow screeched, "WHAT'S HAPPENED? DID HE DO SOMETHING STUPID AGAIN?"

"…Possibly," Buffy told her friend as she tried to calm the beating of her eardrums, "Remember that guy that asked about the Rune Stone?"

"Yeah," Willow said, she couldn't forget that shock of green hair and that accentless voice.

"Well, he told Xander to come by a club. I followed him to a club on the outskirts of town…it was a lot like that club Ford had, bleak and gothic. When I walked inside, there was a bunch of heavy metal going. I followed Xander to the bar but, before I could get to him, he just…vanished. I didn't even see how," she said, taking care to not mention how she got her ass handed to her by a normal human.

"How'd you get the bruise," Willow asked, concerned.

"That's not important," Buffy said and, as usual, the witch simply went along with it, "What's important now is finding out where Xander is and getting him the Hell out of there."

"I can do a locator spell," Willow said with girlish glee, "Just give me a moment to set it up."

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Xander's smile echoed every single bit of happiness that he was feeling at that present moment as he sat down after doing a rendition of the Snoopy Dance. He was free, free from the spectacular bitchy Slayer, free from his sheep-like former best friend, free from his former father figure, and, most importantly, free from Captain Cardboard and the fantastically useless Billy Idol!

"I can tell that you really wanna kiss me right now," Matt said with a grin.

"I would, too, if you weren't…you know…"

"Gay," Matthew said with a grin, "I know. Believe me, I know. I did read your reports and, to be frank, I would have killed all of them. I can't imagine being in your position. But, I have one more question for you…the love spell?"

"I was hurting," Xander said with a grimace, "And it is my instinct. Go for vengeance, and that's what I wanted. I didn't plan on that happening but, such is life."

"The hyena?"

"Didn't see it coming. Alright, moving on to more important things…like, say, this job you want me to do?"

Matthew smiled and tossed him a file. Xander opened it up and stared at the contents for a few moments before opening his eyes as widely as they could and lifting his head up to stair a the Leader of the Sect.

"…You want me to what?"

"It's all right there in the file," Matthew said with a grin, "It's a tough assignment but, the money's worth it. You keep ninety-five percent of the profits, along with your four teammates."

"Teammates," Xander asked, "What teammates?"

Matt tossed him another file, one which Xander skimmed through quickly and resisted the urge to whistle.

"There's some pretty impressive names here, Matt. One or two of which I am certain do not work for us."

"When money's involved, even independents are willing to claim allegiance," Matthew said with a smirk, "Aside from that, what you're hunting for are some of the most dangerous things, and people, on Earth and beyond. Be careful, Xander, and for God's sake, don't die."

"Oh, yeah," Xander said with a grin, "No chance of that happening, now, is there?"

Matthew smiled at him and tossed him a map.

"That's a map of Alabama," the Leader of the Sect said, "You'll need it to find one of my recommendations, if you decide to use him. That boy's more elusive than you are on your best day."

Xander nodded. He knew of the Alabama native, and knew that it would be best if he didn't cross paths with him.

"You wanna get some breakfast," Matthew asked him, "You spent a little over an hour in the entrance hall, at least from our point of view, and we've been here, chatting, for an hour now. It should be close to dawn by now, in Sunnydale."

"…Yeah, I'm up for some food."

With that, the two men stood up and left the office, intending on getting some genuine British breakfast...or, whatever meal it was appropriately called, Xander had no idea what time it was there.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"I found him," Willow said with a smile on her face, "He's in…London?"

"What," Buffy asked as she came down to the ground and stared at where Willow was indicating, "How do you know?"

"Cause the spell says so," Willow shook her head, "This can't be right. Why would Xander be in London?"

"Maybe that's where that weird guy is from," Buffy stated, "Well, saddle up, let's get a ticket to London and bail Xander out from this mess."

"We do that every time, Buffy," Willow said, weary from her lack of sleep, "Can't we just let him solve this one on his own?"

For a minute, Buffy was tempted. They had been bailing him out of all these situations for a long time now. Maybe it was time to let him deal on his own. But, then, she might be condemning him to death.

"…We'll give him some time," _and me some time to rest_, "If he dies, we'll just chalk it up to his stupidity."

Willow nodded. She was completely fine with that, so long as she got some sleep beforehand.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Xander walked through the doors into the hall and sighed. He willed himself a seat and a desk and began to go through all the files. His job wasn't easy but, at least he'd have help. And there was one person on this Earth that he knew would be able to help him better than any of these people, though there were a few he had been dying to meet. Might as well take advantage.

The real problem was getting to where he needed to go in order to even start. They wouldn't be real cooperative with him, and they'd be even less likely to give him what he needed. Well, he had to try…didn't mean he had to like it.

Sighing, the bounty hunter walked back out the doors, thankful that one good thing had come out of this…his check was secure in his pocket, and he was going to cash it in at **his** bank as soon as he got to Sunnydale. As he exited the doors completely, he found himself outside Ambrosia…just like usual.

"Life rocks," he said to himself.

For the first time that anyone could remember, Xander Harris was walking down the street with a spring in his step.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"What," Willow muttered in disbelief, "He was in London, then he was…nowhere for, like, an hour, and now he's back in Sunnydale?"

"Can this be some kind of trick," Buffy asked, although she really wasn't that confident in her friend's abilities but just didn't want to say anything.

"No," Willow answered, "I would know if someone's interfering with the magic. He's here, he just arrived at his parent's house."

"Then it's about time that we found out what the Hell is going on," Buffy said as she grabbed her stake and walked out the door, with the redhead slugging behind her.

"I'm going to kill Xander for this," she muttered as she desperately tried to keep the yawn that was coming out inside.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Xander smirked at his father as he entered the house.

"Where have you been, boy," Tony Harris snarled at him, "Your rent's due."

"No, it's not," Xander said, his smirk still in place, "I've been paying you to let me live here for the past three years and I increased your pay by a hundred since the end of summer. Guess what, Dad? My contract's up, and I'm moving on."

Tony stared at him in shock. Ever since his long lost son had come back and offered to pay him in exchange for letting him live with him, that had been his main source of income. Now…it was all going away. He felt his anger go up and, in a moment that he would later regret, he threw a wild punch as hard as he could at his son.

The boy, however, simply caught the fist with his hand and began to apply pressure. Tony gasped in pain and slowly came to the ground as his son continued to break every bone in his hand before, finally, Xander let him go. The beer guzzler fell completely to the ground, clutching his severely damaged hand as his son simply stepped over his body and proceeded down the basement.

Xander began to gather his stuff the second he entered the basement. All he really wanted to bring were his guitar (he played every now and then), his box of mint condition comics, some going as far back as the twenties, and his most prized possession…a black pistol, incased in glass. The pistol held no designation or variance, and was famous amongst the underworld as once belonging to Roger Galveston, the Nighthawk, thus explaining why he had insisted on that nickname during their summer sprint without Buffy. Aside from that, everything he owned was in storage so, that was his next stop.

He took a moment to reach underneath his mattress and pulled out two handguns. They were models of the PPK with laser sighting. One was loaded with hollow rounds which would explode, while the other was loaded with armor piercing and magically modified rounds that were capable of blowing a hole the size of wrecking ball into a concrete wall. And, best of all, it had a setting display that let him choose just how much force the bullets would have. He called them 'Blitz' and 'Krieg.'

"Lightning War," he said to himself with a smile.

The Germans may have been racist idiots but, they knew how to fight a war…least till Hitler got his grubby hands into the mess. Sighing, he put on the twin holsters and packed away his guns, knowing that if any cops found these on him, he'd be off to jail so fast, not even the RoadRunner could save him.

He gathered his stuff into his box and walked out the door.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Buffy and Willow walked up the steps to Xander's front door only to find that no one was home.

"We missed him," Willow whined, "That means I missed sleep for nothing."

"Let's check in his room," Buffy recommended, knowing full well that something was still going on and that they had to find out what.

The two students went down to the entrance to the basement and knocked on the door.

"Xander," Buffy screamed, "Xander, open this door right now!"

She waited, stamping her foot impatiently, till she was satisfied that no one would be coming. Allowing her anger to get the better of her, the Slayer launched out and took down the door with a single kick.

"Was that necessary," Willow asked quietly.

"Xander'll just have to get a job to pay for it," Buffy said flippantly, "It's not my fault. I'm just trying to help him."

Willow nodded, seeing that it would be useless to try and tell Buffy that she had just committed a crime.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Across the street, standing at a streetlamp, was a satisfied looking Xander with his hand holding a cellular telephone.

"Hello, police," he said as he continued to stare across the street, "Someone just broke into my house."


	5. Paid in Full

_Paid in Full_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Harris Residence:

Buffy and Willow continued to search through the room as quickly as they could, having no care for the damage they were doing to Xander's belongings.

"Nothing," Willow said with a grimace.

"What do you mean," Buffy asked as she flipped the bed up, "We're looking for that Rune Stone."

"Buffy, Xander's comics are gone, and so is his guitar."

"…So," Buffy asked, missing the meaning of her friend's statement.

"Buffy, he didn't take either with him when he went away for the summer," Willow said, "He was planning on coming back."

"…Maybe he took them in to get them sold," Buffy suggested as she realized the magnitude of the situation.

"He never would," Willow dismissed the idea easily, "He loved them both. He'd only take them if he was…"

"Leaving," Buffy said as she let go off the bed, "…He's leaving. We have to stop him."

"You're not stopping anyone," the two girls turned their heads towards the door and found themselves staring down the barrels of two service pistols, held in the hands of two of Sunnydale's finest.

Buffy and Willow shared a look…they were in trouble now.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Xander grinned as he took the key to his storage area and inserted it into the lock. After a quick jimmy, the lock came underneath his grasp and fell to the floor. Xander pocketed his keys and bent down to grab the handle and threw it up as fast as he could. The door slid along the ceiling and came to a halt. He reached out along the wall and found the switch to the light. He flipped it.

And gazed upon all that was inside.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Giles," Buffy yelled into the phone, "Giles! Pick up! Willow and I are in jail, come on! PICK UP!"

No one picked up the phone.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Dove Financing:

Xander walked into his bank with a smile. This was the first deposit he was making since he got back from his summer trip. Bounty hunting hadn't been good since then but, he got the odd job every now and then. In spite of the fact that he had a contract lasting all the time he had been in Sunnydale, he had taken a few jobs a week. That was why he left with his still active contract, going independent. It gave him the opportunity to work outside the one-contract box that the Sect had.

"Mr. Harris," the teller, an attractive brunette with a friendly face, greeted him with a smile, "I haven't seen you in four years. Have you finished your contract out?"

"Sure have, Daisy," he greeted his old friend at the bank, "I got my money and I'm putting it up."

"How much?"

He showed her the check.

"…Dear Lord," she looked up at him with an awed smile, "You get all this just for keeping a Slayer alive?"

"You'd be surprised how difficult it is," Xander deadpanned, "Also, I'd like to make a withdrawal from my account, enough to pay bail three times."

"You got it," Daisy said to him, "Are you the one Matt got for the job?"

"Yep," said the mercenary, "Only the best for this one."

"Good luck to you," the teller said to him as she passed him his money, "The last two to try it wound up shipped back by air mail...literally."

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Buffy and Willow sat side by side in the small cell. They were bored out of their skulls and hoping that Giles would get there soon with the bail money.

"He picked a Hell of a time to get a life," the Slayer muttered.

"Yep," Willow agreed, "This is great. I've got a file now. I'm going to jail. I'll lose my scholarships…I won't be able to finish up college!"

"It's all Xander's fault," Buffy rationalized, "If he would have just told us what was going on, then we wouldn't have had to break into his house."

"It is not Xander's fault, Buffy," the infuriated Wicca said as she turned to face her friend, "It's yours. If you would have just let Xander deal with his own business and not gotten yourself and, worse, **me** involved, none of this would have happened."

"So, what, you're saying that we should leave him out there all by himself," Buffy demanded, "Some friend you are. You've known him all your life and you're not willing to get off your ass to try and help him."

"You're trying to get on his **back** and help him when he isn't asking," Willow shouted, "He may be helpless, but at least give him the chance to grow up. We've been carrying him for too long, it's time to let him take a shot. Not like he has a choice now that we're in JAIL!"

The two stopped in their bickering as they heard a series of claps. Slowly, they turned their heads around to see…

"XANDER," the two exclaimed as one.

They were both about to run in on him, only to stop. Something was different. They both realized, simultaneously, that it was his clothes. He was dressed in a dark green shirt, tucked into a pair of black trousers. He wore a belt along with that and the buckle was the skull and crossed swords that one tended to see on pirate ships in the movies. He was wearing a dark green duster that was, interestingly, not leather. He had on a pair of dark sunglasses, like the ones he wore when he drove last year.

_Mm_, Buffy thought, then stopped, _Was that me? No, this is Xander we're talking about. Why is he dressed like this?_

_What is Xander trying to do_, Willow thought, _Is he trying to pretend he's cool or something?_

"Please," Xander held both his hands up, "Don't stop on my account. I'd love to see a good prison catfight before I leave."

"What are you doing here," Buffy asked.

"You're leaving," Willow asked.

"I'm putting up the bail for you," Xander said, "And, yes, I'm leaving."

"Bail," Buffy asked, still too focused on her possible release, "How? You don't have any money."

"Ugh, Mr. Harris," all three turned their gaze to the chubby officer as he held out a clipboard with a form on it, "You forgot to sign here."

"Thank you," Xander signed his name to the form and the officer walked away.

"How," Buffy asked in shock, "How can you afford to bail us out?"

"Well, I do have money, Buffy," Xander said with a grin, "And I'm the one who's supposed to be pressing charges, so…"

"You," Willow asked, confused and angry, "Pressing charges…against **us**?"

"It is my house," Xander answered calmly, "I am the one who called it in. If I'd've know it was you, I wouldn't have, but, as it was…if you don't feel that you need my help then, I'll be going."

"NO," both girls shouted as one.

"Mr. Harris," all three turned once again as a pretty Latina cop walked down the hall to the young man, "If you would step away, so I can release them."

"You know what," Xander said, adding his best smile, which caused the woman to blush slightly, "I'm thinking no. Why don't we do this…I'll keep the bail money up but, let them out tomorrow. Teach them a lesson, since I'm not pressing charges."

"…Whatever you want, sir," the cop purred to him and she turned away, an extra swing in her walk added just for Xander, which he stared longingly after.

"I'm going to have to come back here," the Zeppo said with a smirk, "Now, while you two are just hanging around, pay attention."

His smirk quickly turned into a venomous glare, one which sent the two girls reeling back deeper into the cell.

"I hate you two," he snarled at them, "I'm not going to tell you why, you don't deserve that. You deserve to sit there, scratching your heads, trying to figure out why I hate you both. I know you'll never be able to understand, you're both too damn dense but, let me put it to you this way…I never want to see either of you again and, if I do, pray that I'm not armed."

Both girls were positively quaking as they heard his voice. It was filled with so much anger, so much pain, and so much grief that they could hardly believe that it was him.

"I'm leaving," Xander said to them, "And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"…W-what about A-anya," Willow asked, she may hate the former demon but, in a choice between him staying with her or him leaving without her, she knew which one she'd choose.

"I knew I was forgetting something," Xander said with a grimace and he pulled out his cell phone and dialed in her number, "…Hey, Anya…no, no orgasms right now. I called to tell you something. I'm a member of _The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_."

He held the phone up to the bars so that they could hear her.

"WHAT," they heard her screech, "YOU'RE A WHAT? HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME THIS, XANDER? WERE YOU BEING PAID TO SLEEP WITH ME OR SOMETHING? UGH, I NEVER WANT TO SLEEP WITH YOU AGAIN, YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE MERCENARY!"

"Love you too, Ann," he said into the phone as he hung up, "…Ask Giles about it then, go to Ambrosia. They'll have something for you."

With that, the young man turned on his heel and marched out the prison.

* * *

A/N: sorry about the length but, don't worry, things'll be getting more...interesting as the story progresses.


	6. Blitzkrieg

_Blitzkrieg_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

The Initiative Bunker, the next day:

Riley Finn collapsed to the ground as he felt the explosion rip the base apart. An unidentified HST had invaded the base not five minutes ago and already, it was making its way all through the perimeter, killing at will. All his soldiers had been deployed to try and stop it but, no one was alive anymore. This thing was strong, and it was able to make a human body explode and take out a damn tank, literally making one go up twenty feet into the air before coming back down, and all they had were blasters because Walsh wanted it taken in for study.

All in all, not the best day for the commando.

He got back up to his feet as quickly as he could and ran to the armory.

"Screw orders," he yelled to Forest and Graham, the only two remaining members of his crew, "Kill the damn thing and let the Professor mess with the body."

Both his men nodded and grabbed every assault rifle and ammo clip they could. The trio placed as many boxes and tables in the way as they could, providing them with decent cover. It might not work against this thing, though. All reports said that its weapons were too powerful for any kind of decent cover.

"Stay calm," he ordered his men, "We can beat this thing."

"Hope so, Ri," Graham didn't sound too confident.

"If not," Forest said, "Then, I'll see you on the other side, brothers."

The three men nodded as one and got ready for whatever was coming. The thunderous footsteps of a heavy body came closer. The commandos gripped their weapons tighter, knowing that they were the only things that held a chance at saving their lives. Instead of a demon or some hellbeast that they had yet to encounter, they were shocked to find that, as their enemy came around the corner and faced the armory, they were dealing with a human.

A familiar human at that.

"Harris," Riley muttered as he sat up and stared at the friend of his girlfriend, "Stand down, men. Harris, what are you doing here?"

Xander did nothing but stare at the three as they came out the cage. Then, he smiled.

"Did you know that Walsh has been experimenting with human beings," Xander said with an eerie smile that told only of pain, "She's been experimenting with women, men, even children. She even turned a man last week into a vampire. Not only that, but she's got a Frankenstein monster of her own brewing in 314."

"That's not true," Riley defended his commanding officer immediately, "Walsh cares about what she does."

"But, what does she do, Captain," Xander said with a wiggle of his index finger, "What does she do?"

None of the three held an answer for that.

"I've been contracted by the Department of Defense to take this place apart by the foundations," Xander said with a grin, "They found out about Maggie's little wet works and kidnappings and want their hands washed clean of this. They've given me the all-clear to kill any soldier who's participated in these acts for treason. You and your team are the only ones who haven't been given these missions, which is why I left them all alive. The rest…well, no point in worrying about the dead now, is there?"

Riley felt his blood boil as this man so flippantly talked about killing soldiers, his soldiers, along with lying about getting contracted to destroy the Initiative. They did good work here, not any of that crap.

"You don't believe me," Riley shook his head, "Then, go find out for yourself. The security systems are down, go and check 314 out for yourself. Hell, I need to anyway. Gotta kill Walsh and Frankenstein. Come on."

Without waiting for a reply, the young man turned and walked away, leaving three commandos standing in his wake.

"…What the Hell," Forest muttered, "If he's lying, we'll just kill him."

"Sounds good to me," Graham agreed.

"…Let's go," the Iowa native ordered as he took off after the civilian.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Xander entered 314 slowly, knowing full well that the possibility of this thing waking up was just too much to risk. As he entered, he could hear two things…the commandos were right behind him…and someone was messing with a bunch of electrical equipment. He kicked in the door and pointed both his pistols at the noise.

Walsh was in the room, trying desperately to make Adam wake up.

"The hospital's closed, bitch," he snarled at the doctor and opened up.

She fell to the ground, an entire half of her body missing, the room covered in entrails. Sighing, the bounty hunter turned around and walked out the door, leaving three very sick commandos to try and figure out where to go from there.

"Be sure to kill Frankenstein for me," Xander called out as he continued walking.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_," Giles repeated later that day, his face pale as he thought back, "That's what he said."

"Word for word, Giles," Buffy muttered, she was still too much in disbelief over the whole ordeal.

"You wouldn't have believed it, Giles," Willow said, her voice dead, "He was so…cruel, the way he talked…I couldn't really believe it was him."

"It has to be a spell," Buffy tried to comfort the witch, "We'll break it, then get our Xander back."

"Buffy," she turned back to see an even graver looking Giles, "I'm afraid that, if what Xander said is true, then…there is no spell. The Dove, Serpent, and Dagger are the premiere bounty hunters in this dimension and in almost every dimension. They do not cast spells on people, it goes against their policy. The only mages they have are bounty hunters themselves."

"Then, explain what's happened to him," Buffy snarled at her mentor.

"…Did he say anything else?"

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Wipe your feet when you enter a person's home," William the Bloody called out to the person who had just entered his crypt.

"You're not a person, dumbass," Xander said to the formerly Big Bad, "Plus, your floor's already covered in enough dirt to make the state of Montana jealous."

"Ooh, someone's done made the big, bad Xander tot lose his jibe," Spike mocked the human mortal as he sat up, "What, your little Randy bitch lose interest in you yet?"

To his surprise, the young man simply smiled at him…evilly. It was a smile that, for some reason, chilled the vampire to the bone. It spoke of experiences that no one on this Earth could ever hope to encounter…or dare to encounter.

"Actually, yes," Xander stated with a grin, "And, I'm pleased to let you know that I am leaving Sunnydale…forever, hopefully."

"Really," this took Spike by surprise, he kinda liked the boy, "Why? Finally get tired of being second rug to the Slayer and her Wicca pet?"

"That," Xander said as he pulled out a cigarette and began smoking, "And the fact that I just got my check."

Spike motioned if he could have some and Xander tossed him the pack and lighter. Spike nodded in thanks and lit a fag up and inhaled, grateful for the sweet nicotine rush.

"Check," the vampire asked in confusion, "What check? I thought you didn't work."

"Au contraire, Spike," Xander took a seat atop the grave next to Spike, "You know how these people treated me, treated everyone who wasn't a core member? Like dirt, that's how. Look at Faith, look at me, look at Giles. It's all about Buffy and Willow, and I despise them for it."

"Sounds like you got a lot of pent up hatred in you, whelp," Spike said as he took another drag, "Kinda like that, only, you oughta let it out some more, mate. Very uplifting, it is."

Xander smiled at him again and said, "Oh, I got a great way of letting it out. It's called 'getting paid.' I was hired to keep the Slayer alive for four years, at least. I just got my check today."

"Wow," Spike muttered as he considered the ramifications of this, "If Buffy ever found out, you'd be one dead son of a bitch."

"Oh, in her mind, either I already am or I'm under a spell. I know these people better than they know themselves, Spike. As soon as they find out that I'm not their little puppy, they're going to do a character assassination on my ass and basically make me out to be a disgusting little worm of a man. Anything they don't like, they turn it into the enemy. That's how they work, and I won't be an exception."

"So," Spike began as he took another drag, "Who paid you and how much?"

"Don't know, a Helluva lot more than I hoped, and I've already deposited the money so, don't even think of taking that point five seconds to shoot my ass."

"Damn," Spike muttered as he laughed, "You know me too well. So, why'd you come to see me? Wanted to take one last look at the handsomest man in Sunnydale?"

"If I wanted to do that, all I'd have to do is look in a mirror," Xander said with a cheeky grin, "No, I came here to do something that should have been done a long time ago."

"Oh, yeah," Spike said, not catching on, "And what's that?"

Xander just stared at him for a moment. Suddenly, the vampire stiffened as he felt a great pain begin to come from inside his body. He gagged and fell to the floor, clutching his chest. Blood was coming out of his mouth.

"Do you know how long it took me to decide how to kill you," Xander asked as he squatted down next to the dying vampire, "I thought of so many ways that it wasn't even funny. Finally, I came up with something that works out well and alleviates me of any guilt that any of the girls could possibly pin on me, even now. They're too naïve to figure it out.

"My fags were laced with Killer of the Dead consecrated in holy water, then blessed again by a Priest, a Rabbi, and a Chumash holy man. That basically means you've just inhaled blessed vamp killers. Your lungs are being burned out of you, then every single organ in your body, till the poison hits your heart. Then, poof! Bye-bye, Spikey…say hi to the Devil for me and tell him that I'm coming to kick his ass pretty soon."

Xander smiled once more at him and stood up to his full height. He began to search around the crypt and found a safe with several thousand dollars inside.

"And he was complaining about not having money," Xander said with the shake of his head, "He'd have plenty if he wouldn't spend most of it on whores."

Quickly gathering up anything that he thought might be of value, the young bounty hunter tossed all his new stuff into his pack and climbed aboard his 1992 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic (he wasn't always this rich) and drove off.

He had one more person to see before he left Sunnydale.


	7. Spell It Out For Her!

_Spell it out for her!_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"There," Giles muttered as he followed Xander's signal with his eyes, "He's heading for the college dorms."

"To see us," Buffy asked, hopeful.

"I don't think so, Buffy. He isn't anywhere near your dorms. Ugh, hand me that pen and paper."

Willow grabbed the items and tossed them both to the ex-Watcher, who quickly began to write down the dormitory address for his charges. As soon as he was done, he handed it back to Buffy, who looked down at it, considering.

"…No one I know lives there," she said and she handed it over to her Wicca friend, "Do you know anyone who lives there?"

"…Oh, God," Willow gasped as she looked down on the address, "Tara."

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Captain, the orders stand: evacuate immediately and report in to El Toro, do I make myself clear?"

"…Yes, Sir," Riley muttered in defeat.

He had spent the last hour trying to make his new CO understand that he had people to inform, more specifically, his girlfriend about what happened and who was involved. Instead, Washington was putting a clamp over his mouth and making sure that he told no one. A squad of MPs were around him and what remained of his squad, with only one casualty due to an escaped demon…he still couldn't believe that one man, Harris, no less, could do this.

All underneath the sanction of the United States government, the government which he represented!

It wasn't fair.

"Cheer up, Riley," he turned to see Forest who, in spite of all that had happened, was happy that he was leaving Buffy, "At least we still have our jobs."

"What about all these men," the Iowa native asked.

"They were killed for treason, man," Forest said, his gaze becoming horrid, "It sucks but, so's what they did. Innocent people, brother, more innocent than us, were killed here, on Walsh's orders. Don't tell me that you don't resent her for that."

Riley tried to find some way to say that he didn't, but…he just couldn't.

"I know you hate leaving Buffy behind, man, but…think about it. Would you really want her going after a government sanctioned bounty hunter?"

Riley shook his head. If it had been two hours before the attack, he would have said that Buffy could have killed Xander Harris easily. Now, he wasn't so sure. And now, he knew that, if she did manage it, she would be facing Marine Force Recon afterwards…he hoped, for his love's sake, that he escaped before anything bad could happen to her.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"I'm going over there," Buffy said as soon as Willow finished explaining how she knew Tara, "She's a witch so, she must be the one who's doing this to Xander."

"Oh, for God's sake!" Giles stood up, completely fed up with his Slayer's stubbornness, "Listen, Buffy, if Xander is a member of the Sect, then there is no way that anyone could put a spell on him. The protecting magics of the Sect are too powerful to be broken. Trust me, I know." At their looks, he continued, "During my Ripper years, I met a member…tried to slip a mind control potion into his nightcap so that I could get an in on the Sect…instead, he just came to me the next morning and told me to bugger off before he blasted my arse into the month after next year."

The two girls just stared at him, not sure how to take his words. Giles sighed and went for a different approach.

"Alright, let's deal with this rationally. There are two things that need to be done: we need to find out what is at Ambrosia waiting for us and we need to get over to this Tara's place and check and see if she's alright. Why don't we split up, divide our forces. Willow, you and I will go check on Tara, while Buffy, since you are the Slayer and know where it is, you shall go to Ambrosia and retrieve whatever is waiting for you."

Buffy immediately attempted to find a way to counter Giles's plan but, as usual, all she could come up with was something that would leave her friends vulnerable. She didn't want Willow to go to Ambrosia, and Giles would probably die upon entering, even with his checkered past. Sighing, the Slayer acquiesced to his request.

"Smashing," Giles said, still in the rapture of the speech from his youth, "Let's get to it, then."

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Tara MaClay opened the door quickly, expecting it to be Willow, only to find a surprise on the other side: a handsome looking man was there, dressed like he was some kind of action hero. He was leaning against the doorframe, looking down on her expectantly. He looked somewhat familiar.

"Tara MaClay," he asked in a tone of complete professionalism.

"Y-yes," she said, shyly, "Can I h-help you, M-mr…"

"Xander," the man said with a grin, "Xander Harris. I was wondering if I could speak to you regarding a…common friend. May I come in?"

Tara, in an act that most Sunnydalians did instinctively, backed away from the door to allow him just enough room for entry. The young man smiled at her as he entered, thereby affirming her belief that he wasn't a vampire…but, was he something more?

Xander, in turn, stared around the small dorm with a calculating gaze. Magic items, Wicca symbols, New Age markings, lights all along the wall…she did good.

"…Who's paying you and how much?"

Instantly, the Wicca's gaze turned from confusion to cold fury.

"I could ask you the same," her voice had frozen by several degrees and spoke waves of distrust…not that he could blame her, "Who are you? Really."

"Just who I said I was," Xander stated as he turned around to face the bounty huntress, "Only, I forgot to mention that I'm a member of _The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_."

Suddenly, Tara became very pale.

"…Oh," she said, her eyes alit with recognition, "You're **that** Xander Harris. I thought you were just a legend."

"Urban, maybe," Xander said with a grin, "The question still stands…who hired you and how much?"

The Witch sighed and decided to spill her guts. Even she knew when she was outmatched and, when it came to going against the poster boy for the dimension's greatest league of bounty hunters, there was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't be walking away from this fight.

"A Wiccan coven in England," Tara said, vaguely, "And I'm being paid a million dollars, current currency."

"To make sure that Willow keeps on the beaten path," Xander supplied as he took a seat on Tara's bed, "…I must admit, your cover is simply remarkable. A shy, New Age type girl who practices magic, a subject that Willow is very fascinated by. You even go so far as to brainwash an entire family with the ridiculous notion that all their women are demons who need to be controlled, just in order to keep up appearances. And, to top it off, you're a lesbian, which Willow has been a candidate for since she was in middle school. Ingenious. I tip my hat to you, Ms. MaClay."

Tara felt herself blush, uncharacteristically. She was unused to receiving compliments from such an established bounty hunter. She took that opportunity to sit down in a chair before him.

"You are aware, however, that the seers say you will die if you remain in Sunnydale for the next two years or so?"

"Like a stray bullet could kill me," Tara said, her eyes alit with flame, "I've seen what's supposed to happen and, frankly, I welcome it. The morning of, I'd just plant a few well placed spells around, cast a stasis spell, and wait till I'm buried to do a teleportation spell and go back to work. It would be the perfect opportunity to get out of there and give the coven what they want."

"And that is," Xander asked, his curiosity aflutter.

"For Willow to realize her true potential on the side of good," Tara spat out, "They've been watching her since she met Janna of the Calderash, a former member of the coven. They've got her personality down to a tee…submissive only to Buffy Summers, domineering over everyone else. She believes that she has a right to the finer things in life, more so than others."

"She's shy," Xander filled in, "She's too dependent on her magic and her friends, not herself. She feels she needs something to make her special, to make herself shine in the eyes of others. In many ways, she was much more confident before she met Buffy. She still lived inside her shell but, she would have come out of it during college, become more mature. Instead, she was dragged out of it by Buffy and turned into a sheep. A Slayerette."

"The only way she would learn to control her powers would be to see what they can do first hand," Tara said, somewhat sadly, "Shame. She could have made a powerful black mage."

"What are you," the bounty hunter asked.

"Gray. Mostly black, but, I dabble in white. Good for healing."

"Willow tries to stay away from the black stuff," Xander said, "Noble, but stupid. If she had a real teacher, they'd make her understand the difference instead of just 'good' and 'bad.'"

"I don't like her that much," Tara admitted, then grinned sexily, "Although, she does have a bangin' body."

"No doubts," Xander said with a grin, "I remember all the illicit smoochies…good times."

"You know, I know all about Willow's friends except for one," Tara said to her fellow bounty hunter, "He's a guy that's stopped more Taraka hits than I can think of, at least on the Slayer's life. Who is he?"

Xander pointed at himself.

"…That makes sense," Tara stated, "I was wondering where I knew you from. I kept on asking Willow about the other guy in a photo she showed me but, every time I did, she just said 'oh, let's not talk about him.' She was far more interested in improving her magic prowess and in sneaking looks at me."

"That's Willow for you," Xander said with a shake of his head, "If it's not about Buffy, it's about her. She did the same thing with me by trying to put a delusting spell on me without telling me. When it's too hard, she turns to what's easy. It's pathetic and something that only those who are weak do."

"Didn't you cast a love spell on everyone once," Tara asked, Willow had mentioned it once when she had enquired about Xander in the photo in order to get off the subject and onto magic.

"Vengeance," Xander said with a grin, "The only reason why D'Hoffryn didn't send a demon to help me out. And, for the record, that wasn't easy. I hate working with magic, particularly when I'm directly involved. But, it was the only thing I could think of that would be somewhat in character."

"Wait a minute," Tara brought the conversation to a halt as her mind reminded her of something, "Illicit smoochies? What?"

"Oh, yeah. For a while, I dated this girl Cordelia while Willow dated Oz, a rocker. We cheated on them both."

"Why," Tara asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Willow started kissing me," Xander stated casually, as though he were talking about the weather, "So, I took advantage. I knew she wouldn't let me go during the summer but, I also knew that she would kick my ass just in order to prove to Oz that she was still loyal."

"What about Cordelia," Tara asked, she had seen photos of Cordelia and had to admit that, if it came to a choice between the redhead or the brunette, she would definitely go for the brunette.

"Me and her weren't meant to be," Xander said with a grimace, "I knew it, but she didn't. She was blindly in love…I miss her sometimes. I figured it would be the best way to let her go and make her feel morally superior, give her a chance to reclaim her former popularity. So, what sect do you work for?"

"I'm independent," Tara said proudly, and she had reason to, only the best could make it as independents, which was why many of them were hated, "Underneath the Sect, I'd be a member of the Serpent and the Dagger."

"Most people think bounty hunters are like Boba Fett," Xander said, "They publicly go after people. We're different. We go either from the outside quietly, or from the inside quietly. We're like mercenaries..."

"…and assassins," Tara finished his statement, "So, why did you come to see me, Mr. Harris?"

"To offer you a job," the Wicca stared at him in shock.

"I can't do that," she said to him, hoping that he would understand and not decide to blow her head off, "It would be bad for my reputation if I left a job in the beginning of it."

"Ah, but not if you went to work directly for the Sect of _The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_," Xander told her with a smug grin, "That is better than working independent, you get first pick at the top jobs, better stringer salary and all the weapons and supplies you find necessary for your job."

Tara would have been lying if she had said that she didn't find the offer tempting. To work for the DSD was like a dream come true for most hunters. And to work with Xander Harris, the man behind it all…that would be a dream come true, and good for her rep.

"…What's the job?"

Xander smiled again, knowing that he already had her. He pulled out a file and handed it to her.

"…My Goddess" Tara stated in shock and looked up at him, "That's not possible. That's like trying to off the President when he's at DEFCON 1!"

"And that's just the beginning," Xander stated with a grin, "Imagine the number of body guard's he's got, along with a private army from D'efiro, the Fire demon dimension. But, that's just one part. First, we have to obtain something from him."

Tara stared at him for another moment, then looked back down at the paper.

"The Dagon Sphere," Xander supplied, "It's one of the only magical things that can harm Glorificus, a Hell god that's going to be coming soon to find her Key. I've even heard rumors that they're going to send it to Sunnydale."

"Why does he have this," Tara asked.

"Glorificus paid him to have it stolen and keep it away from the monks. We're going to return it and, in exchange, use some of the Key's energy to open a doorway to another world. Then, we've gotta take something from his stash, get back to Earth, then keep a hold of it till its new owner comes to collect."

"What is this item that we have to collect," Tara asked.

Xander smiled at her giddily.

"The Holy Grail of magic," he said to her.

She stared at him blankly, a dull look upon her face.

"…NO," Tara said, astounded, "NO WAY. NOT THAT."

"You're damn right, that," Xander told her.

Without any word of warning, the Wicca leapt up from her seat and slammed him onto the bed. She clutched his head with both her hands and smiled down at him.

"I'm in," she said and she kissed him full on the lips.


	8. All Is Revealed

_All is Revealed_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Xander returned the kiss in earnest and found himself oddly disappointed as the bounty huntress abruptly left his lips and stood up.

"What was that," he asked her irritably, "You go and get me all hot and bothered, then leave me out to dry!"

"I was wondering if I still had it," Tara said cheekily, "Plus, I'm so very grateful that you've chosen me for this. I had to give you a reward of some kind."

Xander was about to say something else when he noticed something…instead of just lust for this huntress, he now felt something akin to…affection?

"Reverse it," the hunter glared at her, causing her to recoil in fear and make his heart hurt but, he pressed forward, "Nice try, Tare, but you'll have to get up early in the morning to hoodwink me. Now, reverse it or I'll blow your brains out right now."

She could tell from the calmness of his voice that this threat was not idle. More interested in preserving her own life and having a shot at getting the most coveted magical item in the Multiverse, Tara quickly mumbled the counter spell to her affection spell. As was often said, 'The life you save may be your own.'

"That's better," he said as the simple lust returned, "Next time you try that, I will blow your brains up against the wall. Although, to be fair, a brilliant tactic. That way, when you try and steal it, I might think twice about killing you while you'd take that time to either kill me or escape. You really are more clever than I took you for."

"Or," he gulped slightly at the look of fire in her eyes, "I was trying to make sure you **did** think twice about killing me when you betray me. I've worked with members of your sect before, Mr. Harris, and they all betrayed me. You may have a reputation of morality, but, I'm not stupid enough to risk my life on that."

Xander stared at her for a long moment and said, "I…understand," he really did, he had been betrayed before by fellow hunters and…former friends, "I apologize for assuming the worst of you, Tara. You have every right to try and defend your life. It might not help any, but, I am sorry for what's been done to you in the past."

"…it does," the mage whispered.

"Go put some actual clothes on," Xander said, motioning to the New Age ensemble she was wearing, "We're starting as soon as we round up the rest of the team."

"Team," Tara asked, "What team?"

"You'll see," he said as he grabbed a bag from underneath her bed and pulled out her magic supplies, checking them over for anything that might be helpful and making notes of things that they might need.

Tara sighed and went to her closet. She opened it once, halfway, then pushed the door back until it was resting against the frame. She pulled it open completely and stared happily into her real closet.

"Hello, gorgeous," she said as she pulled out a white wife beater and pair of black leather pants.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Buffy entered Ambrosia with no small amount of fear, even though it was day. She constantly felt as though she were in danger, like an ant in the presence of an anteater. She really hated feeling inferior.

"Excuse me," she said to the bartender, a big man with a bald head and a goatee, "I was told to come here and get something from Xander Harris."

The man stiffened upon hearing her friend's name and nodded. He put his glasses away and bent down beneath the bar. When he emerged, he held a thick, manila folder in his grubby hands.

"Thanks," Buffy said sweetly and she took off out the club as fast as she could. The second she was outside the club, she sighed and sat down on the curb and opened the file.

"Huh," she said to herself, "This is dated a little before I came to Sunnydale."

She read the file over slowly, intending on truly understanding what it was Xander was trying to tell her…till she came to the contract part.

"…'Alexander Harris, hired out to keep Slayer Buffy Summers alive for a minimum of four years,'" Buffy said, her voice quivering, "'In exchange for the sum of ten billion dollars, current market price.'"

She dropped the rest of the file and let the papers fly with no concern. She stared blankly out into the town. For the first time in her life, she felt…cold. She felt as though every single ounce of warmth that had been in her body had just been frozen away. She felt…dead inside.

"He loved me," she said to herself, "We all knew it. And he loved Cordelia, and Willow…he stayed because he loved us."

Almost as if to mock her, a paper that had escaped from the file came roaring back to her and slammed itself into her face. Sighing, she gripped the paper roughly and pulled it down and, before she could throw it away, she noted that it was in Xander's handwriting.

"…It's dated just after I ran away," she muttered to herself, "'Slayer Summers has run away from Sunnydale. I did make every possible attempt to prevent this but, I could not control the actions of my charge. I tried to force her along the right path, to make her see that Angelus needed to be vanquished, otherwise she would die and I would lose my bounty. She's a stubborn ass who's got her head stuck too far up it. All she does is whine and complain about her boyfriend being gone, who's out there killing people. It's disgusting! I'd like to remind whoever it is I'm working for that the only reason why Angelus is still out there is because you, the people I'm working for, told me to let him live and see how long it would take Summers to kill him. I'm sick and tired of that, and grateful that he's roasting in Hell. I may be going there myself but, at least I try not to kill innocents.

"'What's even more pathetic is Rosenberg's display over this. She mourned greatly over Janna of the Calderash's death, only to happily forget it the second Summers tells her. She's even more of a coward than she was when Chase was the Queen Bitch of Sunnydale. Believe you me, I am counting the days till I'm let out of this Hellhole. The second I'm done with the contract, I'm outta here!'"

Buffy stared down at the paper in shock. Was this how Xander really thought of her…of Willow? Sighing, she tossed the paper away and picked out another one at random…it was dated for a few days after the gang found out about Angel being alive…a few days after she and Faith had gotten into that fight that wouldn't have happened if Xander hadn't gotten her involved.

"'These past few days have been a doozy, bosses,'" she read, "'First thing, I finally found a good excuse to tell the group that I know Angel's alive. I hated not being able to tell them that I knew the second he landed on that floor but, I have cover to maintain. Then, I go and tell Giles and that Post woman overhears us but, I can't do a damn thing to stop her from creating a rift between Summers and LeHane. I know my job is to keep Slayer Summers alive but, damnit, LeHane is a much better Slayer. If I could just take her under my wing, I'd be able to help her out of that Hellhole she's living in. I know, I know, my orders are to keep cover but, it's infuriating. I have to wait till I get a viable excuse to see LeHane or till Summers gets her head out her ass (like that'll ever happen) and tells the Watcher herself. I'm doing what you want but, it sucks to do it.

"'Moving on, the group and I had an intervention for Summers. We attempted to reason with her but, per usual, she systematically attacked us and told us to fall in line like good little soldiers. And, most disgustingly, we do! It's completely in character, too, we've always done that. We did that during the second year, when Summers nearly got us all killed, and with Angelus. I fought her, just like I fight her now, and I'll be damned if I don't go down fighting! Anyway, I tried to take advantage of the situation as best as I could. I made sure I was at the Bronze when LeHane dropped by. I figured I could tell her, let her make her own decisions, and watch from afar. Then, after Summers tried to beat the crap outta her and, since that would never work on the far superior Slayer, basically kick her out of the group, I could have done the thing that would have been in character for me and go help her. But, the plan was fouled up. Instead, we found Giles passed out because Post beat him over the head. I tried to stop LeHane from going but, she went ahead. There went my brilliant plan! Instead, the rift just grew between the two. I tried to stop the Slayers from fighting but, LeHane tossed me into a wall. And I couldn't do anything except pretend to be unconscious! I really hate the character I built up but, Summers already had the dark and mysterious helper in Angel and Rosenberg knew me too well to believe that I was a good fighter so, I had to work with what I had. At least it's getting time to end this damn Fluke. Rosenberg's already starting to feel guilty about it. This will leave my reprieve completely free and, believe me, it will be worth it just in order to get away from these idiots. I'll hate leaving Cordelia but, I don't want her to have to put up with these shits just because we're screwin'. Besides, we're not meant to be…we're too different.'"

Buffy blanched at that. As far as she knew, Faith had been his first. Now, she's reading that Xander had had sex with Cordelia?

"No," she mumbled to herself, "Has to be a lie. He was totally fixated on Slayers, he couldn't have settled for just Cordy."

Desperate to reaffirm her belief that Xander was a lovesick puppy over all Slayers, she began to search the files over a few times before she came to one documented on their first meeting with Kendra.

"'Slayer Kendra, the one that had been called after Summers died, came to us earlier this week. The same story: friend gets kidnapped, Summers stupidly tries to save them herself, and gets her ass saved by the group. Only noteworthy things to report are that Angel was the one kidnapped. He was being used in a ritual to make Drusilla better. We stopped the ritual and burnt down the church they were using but, both herself and Spike survived. And I still couldn't do anything other than watch, just in case Giles came by to search the perimeter! On the dynamics of the group, Chase and I shared some illicit kisses in the basement while Taraka tried to get to us. She's hot but, too bossy. I'll give it a week and see where it goes. Summers is still bent over backwards about Angel, needless to say. A Slayer and a vamp, how perverted is that? The only other thing I have to report is that Slayer Kendra and I did it after we got Angel out,'" Buffy blanched once more, Xander and Kendra? Had to be false, "'She and I met on our patrols. She was suffering from the infamous H&H factor of a Slayer. Needless to say, I am a man. What kinda man on this planet would refuse a horny Slayer, particularly one who was a virgin and when the man is in no true relationships? And when he'll maybe see her once more, if she doesn't die. …I'd feel sad if she died, really. She seems to be much more adequate of a Slayer than Summers. At least, I don't believe she would fall for the first mysterious vamp that came her way. Anyway, the only reason why I'm mentioning that is because it might come up again in the group dynamic. I'm trying to not make you guys bored with rants like I have before. Remember that for later.'"

Buffy stifled a sob as she closed the file. Was this really what their Xander-shaped friend thought of them?

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Tara watched with envy as Xander strapped all her equipment onto his Harley.

"Why can't I get one of those," she asked herself.

"Because, you spend too much on spells and weapons," Xander answers for her as he looks up, "Part of the benefits of being a Sect member."

Tara sighed and looked over to her right.

"Oh, shit," she exclaimed, "Xander, check your six."

Xander turned his body around and saw, without any doubt, Willow and Giles walking down the sidewalk towards the dorms that the two had just left from. They were both, fortunately, in deep conversation and passed by them both without even a glance.

"That was just too lucky," Xander muttered, then he faced Tara…who had a smug look on her face.

"Symposium spell I designed," the Wicca stated confidently, "They'll keep talking till they get to my dorm."

"Did you leave it like I asked," Xander asked his new hunting partner.

"Yeah," she climbed onto his back and held on as he stared up the bike, "Why did you ask me to leave my contract on the bed?"

He paused, wondering how she'd take his answer. Then, he just decided to go for it.

"I was left out of a bunch of their meetings," Xander said, venom in his voice, "If I hadn't been such a good spy, I wouldn't have known half of what I do know. When I confronted them about it, they just made up a bunch of poor lies that a blind and deaf person could see through…and I just described Helen Keller without even realizing it, but that's not the point. The point is, they lied to me all the time when they claimed to be my friends. I never once said I was their friend, I said I was there for them, there to protect Buffy. That's what I was being paid to do. I never told them I was their friend, only that I was there. And, the thing that really gets to me is that they have no faith in my abilities. Even with the few that I've been able to display, they should have known better. But, they're stuck in this narrow minded field that says 'Xander, useless.'"

"So, that's vengeance," Tara asked.

"I've already gotten my vengeance," Xander stated with a snarl, "That was payback for Willow wanting to use magic to control my mind."

"Control your mind," Tara asked, "How?"

"You think the delusting spell is all she tried? She tried to do a spell on me to make me want to quit. Fortunately, she was still a novice in most forms so, when the spell encountered the barrier set up, she just assumed that it failed due to her inexperience."

"If there's a barrier, then how'd you get possessed," Tara asked as Xander started the bike.

"Possession's different," Xander stated, "The barrier couldn't stop that. I got it modified right after. When Halloween came, the rifle changed but, I didn't. I just playacted the part of a soldier…it was easy. When that fear demon thing came out to play, it affected everyone and everything around me, just not me. Then, when Willow did a spell that was supposed to grant her will and she made me into a demon magnet, the barrier basically blocked it but, it was still there. Since Willow's spell was in effect constantly, it kept on beating against the barrier. It didn't even crack the surface but, it did make all the demons attracted to any area I was in."

"All this explaining has gotta be wearing on your nerves," Tara stated, "Why don't you-"

"'Let me drive,'" Xander finished her statement for her, "If you really wanted to, all you had to do was ask."

"You don't mind being in the bitch seat," Tara asked as Xander got off the bike.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind being your bitch, Tara," he said as he climbed onto the back and clutched her sides, "It certainly has a better view."

Tara smirked. She liked this guy. Without any worry or care, the Wicca opened up and sped down the street.

"WOOO-WHOO," Xander shouted out.


	9. End of the Quiet

End of the Quiet

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Sunnydale General Hospital:

"Is this the girl," one of the Spec Ops soldiers asked.

Bravo 1, leader of the Bravo Flight in the Dove, Serpent, and Dagger Spec Ops branch, looked down at his file and stared at the picture. He looked up and compared it to the girl in the bed before him.

"This is the girl," Bravo 1 said as he tucked the paper away into his pocket, "Alright, people, let's get her outta here. And remember, no screwin' with this one. We've got a job to do, and we all know what'll happen if we do her while she's sleepin'."

"Harris'll make us wish we were fags," Bravo 4 said, laughter echoing in his voice.

"Nope," Bravo 1 stated as he helped his men load her onto a stretcher, while Bravo 3 began to pour blood all over her bed and slash the pillows and bed, "She'll probably wake up and castrate us herself."

All three of his men winced in unison as they imagined the pain of it all.

"Let's go," Bravo 1 ordered his men.

Bravo 2 and Bravo 4 grabbed the handles of the stretcher and quickly began to run down the hallway. Bravo 1 took the lead, his MP-52 providing them with cover from the front, while Bravo 3 took the rear, covering them with his magically modified Uzi. The group fled towards the window which they had entered from, which led to a waiting helicopter with four clamps, waiting to be attached to the stretcher.

Bravo 1 strapped his rifle onto his back and climbed out the window, taking care to watch his footing and his grip, and grabbed hold of the clamps. He leapt back inside and quickly secured the Slayer's stretcher to them. Bravo 2 got onto the windowsill and held onto the rope while Bravos 1 and 4 lifted it out of the window, keeping the handles barely on the sill while Bravo 2 kept it stationary with the rope and his weight in the center.

Bravo 4 quickly climbed onto the bars and grabbed a hold of the rope. He ducked his head underneath the sill and flashed a thumbs up to his partner, who did the same to the chopper. The helicopter quickly pulled away from the building and both Bravos felt the same feeling of vertigo and had to remind themselves that the stretcher was enchanted to never tip, not even with the wind so long as it was heavy enough. Both Spec Ops soldiers got out their Uzi's and covered the LeHane girl from above till they were directly across from the chopper.

Bravo 2 let go of his weapon and quickly leapt backward into the chopper, then helped Bravo 5 pull it and Bravo 4 in. As soon as the Slayer's stretcher was unhooked from the clamps, Bravos 2 and 4 began to clamp her down to the deck while Bravo 5 lowered the clamps down again.

"Easiest fifty grand we ever got," Bravo 3 muttered as Bravo 1 grabbed a hold of the clamps and tossed two to him.

"Least till the damn Council gets word of this," Bravo 1 said with a smile, "Alright, let's evac."

The Spec Ops soldier leapt out the window, with Bravo 3 right behind him, and the two were flown away, even as Bravo 5 pulled them up. As soon as all the Bravo Flight were aboard the chopper and the hatches were closed, Bravo 1 sat down at his laptop and established a link to his employer's own laptop.

After a few moments, the connection was formed and a face appeared on his screen: Xander Harris, the Sect's top bounty hunter, was looking at him, a regular diner as the background.

_Gotta be a fake for people who might tap in_¸ Bravo 1 thought to himself.

"Sir," the Flight leader began, "Have executed orders as given. Slayer LeHane is within our custody, Sir."

"What about the cover," the hunter asked.

"Sir, we made it look like a random homicide, Sir," Bravo 1 stated.

"The police won't do a damn thing, then," Harris stated with a grin, "And the Council will just assume that the spirit moved on completely to Summers. Thank you, Bravo Flight. You've lived up to your reputation, as always. Please revive her and allow me the ability to speak with her."

"Yes, Sir," Bravo 1 told his contractor as his men began to get the equipment out that would bring her out of her coma.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"This can't be real," Willow said as she stared down at the papers, the ones from Xander and Tara.

It was that night, when the group had all come together. Giles was sat in his chair, nursing a glass filled with whiskey, his thoughts raging.

_He was our friend_, Giles thought to himself, _He was with us from day one. How could we have not know?_

He thought back…and came to the conclusion.

He says it himself. His cover was already there, he was Willow's friend before he joined…had to have been, she remembers him from when he was a child…or, maybe he engineered those memories…no, he made it clear in his reports that those memories were true. And, even if that weren't an air tight alibi, we didn't pay him any attention, period.

Willow was still in a state of denial.

_No,_ she thought to herself, _This can't be real. Xander can't have…this isn't like him. But, how would I know? He's never really told me who he is, he's hid himself from me all his life. Even before we met Buffy, I thought he was mysterious…I can't believe he lied to me all this time._

Buffy, however, just kept on going through Xander's notes, trying to find something that made her believe that…he didn't hate her…that he didn't hate Willow…but, nothing told that. Every single report was a rant about how stupid she was, how much a sheep Willow had become, how arrogant and idiotic Angel was (she felt much more of her ire grow as she read those), and how much of a coward or 'romantic' Giles was for letting Angel and her date. The only persons that he apparently liked were Cordelia (he claimed to love her in several reports and that he felt she deserved to get away from both herself and Willow, and that they weren't meant to be, thus explaining why he 'participated,' as he put it, in the Fluke) and Faith (he claims to have found a kindred spirit, of sorts, in Faith but, feels that he can't get too close because it might cause Buffy to alienate him even more and force him to take a less active role in her known life).

The only thing that she could find that gave any connection to Cordy and Faith were three: both brunettes, both hot, and both were hated by Willow and herself. Buffy wasn't really sure which thoughts Xander was going by as he wrote these but, she hoped it had more to do with the first two and not the final one. Though, just going by these reports, she doubted it.

"This can't be real," Willow said again.

"Oh, do wake up, you stupid bint," Giles said, his voice slurred, "This is soddin' real! Xander has been watching us since day one, learning everything about us, doing everything that he has done, all with the singular purpose of keeping Buffy alive. He was exactly what we thought he was…dedicated to keeping Buffy safe. It's just the reasoning that's changed!"

"…Do you think he cared, Giles," Willow asked, her voice timid, "Do you…think he cared…about…us?"

"He had to have, Willow," Giles said as he put his drink down and moved for his bedroom, "If any one of us died, Buffy would've been aggrieved and been much more vulnerable to an attack."

Willow stifled a sob as Giles walked away. That had not been amongst any of the answers she had been expecting.

"He lied to us," Buffy said, her voice dead, "He's been lying to us since day one."

"What do we do," Willow asked, her voice latent with tears.

"Isn't it obvious," Buffy asked, "We find him…we make him pay."

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Why exactly are you talking to this girl, Xander," Tara asked from across the booth that she and her new partner were currently sharing.

"She's going to be another member of our team," Xander stated as he waited for Bravo Flight to revive the Slayer, "She was a Slayer but, she fell off the beaten path. She hates Buffy, looks on her as a monster."

"You like her already," Tara said with a grin.

"Did the second I laid eyes on her," Xander admitted, "She was…something of a kindred spirit with me. Plus, she was hot."

"Bet that didn't hurt," Tara said as she leaned over to see the screen, "Whoo, she's a hottie. You do her?"

"Yeah," Xander said, "It was the best night of my life that the gang knows about. Well, knew about."

"Think she'd go for a dirty blonde," Tara asked, her voice going into a deep octave that simply personified sex.

"You keep on talking like that, then yeah, she'd go for a dirty blonde," Xander said to her, only half joking.

"Why are you inviting her to join us," Tara asked, getting back to business.

"She deserved better than she got," Xander stated, "This is her chance at a new life. Plus, she'd be good for the PR."

"PR," Tara asked, truly confused, "What're you talking about?"

The bounty hunter just grinned.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

Bravo 1 stared down at the small body lying on the deck of the helicopter as it sped along its merry way. LeHane was moaning a little but, otherwise, no one could tell if she was even alive.

"Wait," Bravo 2 said as he checked her brainwaves on the monitor, "Brain activity increasing…fast."

"She's a Slayer," Bravo 5 philosophized, "She'd be waking up faster if it weren't for all the drugs in her systems."

Bravo 1 nodded in agreement. He turned his gaze back to her quickly as she began to move. Slowly, very slowly, her eyes opened.

"Cover," he whispered and the Slayer quickly found herself facing four automatic weapons.

"Wha-" the Slayer muttered as she tried to adjust to the waking world.

"Welcome to the world of the living, Miss LeHane," Bravo 1 said to her, a smile on his face through his ski mask.

"…What's goin' on," Faith asked, not yet sure whether or not to consider these men enemies, even as she struggled through the fog that was her mind.

"We've been contracted to revive you," _Gotta be the Boss_, Faith thought to herself, "And our employer wishes to speak with you."

Faith nodded. She was eager to see how Wilkins was doing. The soldier quickly got out of her way and indicated a glowing screen to the front of the chopper (she just realized that that was why the room was bumping and there was a whirring sound above her). Slowly, the raven haired girl crawled to the screen and stared into the face of…

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"…Xander," the bounty hunter, and huntress, saw the shocked Slayer exclaim.

"Good evening, Faith," Xander said to her with a grin, "How's it going?"

"…Alright, I guess," the Slayer took a moment to stare around the at the soldiers, then turned her gaze back to him, "Is this my execution squad?"

"No, gorgeous," Xander said to her, laughter in his voice, "That's your honor guard."

"Honor guard," Faith asked, confusion evident in her voice. _Must be too out of it to think properly_, Xander thought as he realized that she hadn't even commented on his 'gorgeous' remark.

"Just in case a Council hit team comes after you," Xander stated, "So, how's my favorite Slayer doing?"

"Depends," Faith said with a small grin, "How's Buffy?"

"Don't know," Xander said, "Either swearing vengeance on me or crying her eyes out."

"…What happened?"

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"I know nothin', Slayer," Willy screamed out as Buffy threw him into the counter.

"Why do I not believe you," Buffy Summers was pissed and in need of answers…and the snitch was usually knew everything she needed to know.

"You know," Willy said as he slowly came to his feet, "You keep comin' here…knocking my teeth out, expecting me to know the answer to every damn question you got…one of these days, I'm either going to have an answer you don't like, or no answer at all. This just so happens to be a day when I don't have an answer."

Buffy stared at the usually cowardly snitch, not sure how to react. Ordinarily, all she had to do was push him around and he'd spill his guts out. Today, when she asks where Xander…is…

"How much did he pay you," she asked as she realized it.

"What," Willy asked, "Xander pay me anything! Are you crazy! He'd beat me up more than you ever have before he'd pay me."

"He bribed you once," Buffy remembered.

"I sure as Hell don't remember," Willy stated, "I remember him beating the shit outta me for some info on a demon with books, but no money."

"…Alright, new approach," Buffy started, "What do you know about the Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger."

Immediately, Willy's features became whiter.

"No," the snitch stated, "No way in Hell am I giving up a member of theirs. Doin' that's like asking the Devil for a pack of smokes…either you die slowly, or fast, and I'd prefer to NOT die."

"Then, what can you tell me," she didn't want him to die…just to suffer.

"That if any of them find out I talked about them, I'd be dead," Willy stated, "Listen, if your boy's gotten mixed up with them, the most I can tell you is to kiss his ass good-bye."

"Xander's a member," Buffy stated coldly.

"…My God," Willy said as a light came on in his eyes, "He's the Xander Harris…I thought it was just a coincidence."

"What do you mean 'the,'" Buffy asked.

"The Xander Harris," said the snitch, "The man behind the Sect. The best in the business, period, the one and only."

"What," Buffy asked, even though she knew that Xander was a bounty hunter now, she was still surprised when the snitch said that he was the best.

"…How did you find out," Willy asked, his usual aura of sleaze going away…he seriously wanted to know.

"He let us know after his contract was filled out," Buffy said, "He left us all his reports on us…he was being paid to keep me alive for a minimum of four years."

"And you never suspected a thing," Willy filled in, "And now, you're wanting payback. I'm sorry, Slayer, but…I can't do a damn thing about it. And even if I could, I wouldn't. Xander'd plug my damned head off."

"Is he really that bad," she wondered aloud, "I mean, he's just a normal guy."

"Normal," Willy muttered, "That's what the Sect's made of…normals. There's no demons, no Slayers, just normal people who obtained a skill."

"Like a witch," Buffy wondered aloud.

"Not often," Willy stated, "They prefer to go independent. More like soldiers, with guns and ammo. Xander…if I were you, I'd let it go before Blitzkrieg gets on your ass."

"'Blitzkrieg,'" Buffy wondered.

"Lightning War," Willy explained, "Ask your ex about it, Slayer. He should know about the Blitz and the Krieg."

With that, the snitch turned and walked into the back room, locking the door behind him.


	10. Fortress of Air

_Fortress of Air_

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"…So, you've been fighting with the Scoobies for four years…all for money," Faith asked, not truly believing him.

"Ah, don't make it sound so bad," Xander said over the link, "I fought vamps and demons and the worst human filth ever long before that, and yes, for money. The only reason why I took the job to keep Buffy alive for a min of four years was because it was the one thing that no member of the Sect had ever done."

"What," Faith asked, perplexed.

"Ordinarily, a Sect member is challenged by an undisclosed member to keep the Vampire Slayer alive for at least three years. Over the centuries, it progressed in both sum and time because no one had ever done it before. I was the best in the business before she came to town, literally **the** best, so I decided to give it a shot."

"That's why you stayed with B and Red through all the shit," she asked, "Money? They couldn't have paid me enough."

"That's one of the things about becoming a hunter like myself, Faith," Xander said with a sigh, "You learn to deal with the assignment you've been given. I dealt with it, by ranting at whoever it was holding the leash, but, I dealt with it. But, enough of that. We need to talk about something else."

"…What," Faith wondered, not sure if she liked where he was going with this.

"Faith, I'm going to be one hundred percent honest with you," Xander took a breath to steady himself and said, "I tried very hard to find a way to reach you, to talk to you. I knew that you couldn't stand them, I knew that you were the better Slayer, I saw it…but, I couldn't find a way. You have to understand that I couldn't break character."

"I wasn't important enough," Faith said, somewhat downtrodden.

"It's not that, Faith," he said to her, "It's because of the price that comes with failing that particular job. You get excommunicated from the Sect and the Sect contracts independents to hunt you down. When you take the Slayer contract, you know the risk…get found out, you're dead."

"Why would anyone take that job," Faith wondered.

"For the prestige," Xander admitted with a grin, "No one has ever survived the Slayer contract…least, till me. That's because none of the members ever had a chance to gain an in…but, I did, so, I took it.

"Faith, I want you to know that…even though I'm a bounty hunter, even though I lie, cheat, and steel when I need to, I still am a good guy. I have morals and ethics, always have, always will. I only do jobs that involve criminals and demons…I can't speak for Tara here, but-"

"Wait, wait," Faith held her hands up in confusion, "Tara? Who is that?"

Xander smiled at her and went aside, allowing a beautiful girl with dirty blonde hair to look into the screen.

"Hey, Faith," the girl said in a sultry voice, "My name's Tara. It's good to see you're…up and about," she said, her voice dripping in enough sexual energy that it literally made her pant with desire.

"OK, that's enough," Xander said, pushing her aside so that he could see her, "Sorry about her. She's abnormally flirtatious with babes."

Faith nodded. She'd noticed.

"Anyway," he said, clearing his throat and getting back on the subject, "Faith, I woke you up to extend a…business proposition to you, of sorts."

"Proposition," she asked, her interests slightly piqued, "Such as…?"

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Buffy," Angel, the newest Champion for the Powers That Be, smiled as he answered the phone, "How are you?"

"Not good," the voice of his ex echoed across the lines, "This is a business call, Angel. I need to know everything you know about something called the Blitzkrieg."

"Sure, I know plenty about that," he had been around to see it, of course, had actually be there for the battle for Paris briefly, "It was a method of war designed by the war departments of Nazi Germany-"

"Not the World War II one," she told him, "I'm talking about a Blitzkrieg involving a bounty hunter."

Angel, a vampire, paled to the point that if anyone didn't know he was already dead would have believed him to be dead already.

"…What do you know," he asked her.

"It's got something to do with a hunter from a sect called the Dove, Serpent, and Dagger. That hunter goes by the same name as Xander…and, actually, is Xander."

"What," Angel asked, he'd always believed that it was a coincidence, "How? Why? When?"

"Four very good questions," Buffy told him, "Questions that I need answered. I want him, Angel. I want him to pay for what he did."

"What did he do," he asked, fearing for his beloved and her friends. He listened intently as she went over the events that occurred recently, starting with a strange man named Matthew, and ending with her excursion at Willy's. Quite frankly, to him, it seemed as though Xander had simply gotten some vengeance for what Buffy, Willow, and Giles had done to him over the years…if the situation were reversed and he had been the human while Xander was the ensouled vamp, he was certain that he would feel jilted himself.

And, if most of the Xander Harris stories were true, he was thankful to any gods that would listen to his prayer that she was still alive.

"…Buffy," he began, "Xander was getting vengeance for what he feels are wrongs you've all done to him-"

"WE DID NOTHING," she interrupted vehemently, "HE BETRAYED US!"

"Yes, he did," Angel told her, "But, to him, you betrayed him first. I'm not siding with him, I'm just explaining my interpretation to his motives."

He could hear her sigh in anger, but, she, thankfully, did not explode on him.

"Xander Harris," he continued, "The one known as a bounty hunter, is one of the most known figures in the underworld. He takes out the worst of the worst, he even took out one of the last True Demons before disappearing for a while, coming out to take a few independent contracts a year, tops. The Blitzkrieg refers to his weaponry…twin pistols, one named Blitz for its ability to cause explosions, the other named Krieg for its warlike force. Blitz is capable of causing near napalm level explosions on its lowest setting, and Krieg is able to punch a hole through a twenty meter thick concrete wall, or so I'm told."

"…And what is this hunter like?" He could hear the tightness in her voice.

"A deadly combatant, and an excellent spy," he admitted, "But, a moral person. He goes after the worst bad guys, not like others in the business. He never targets civilians, has the lowest count of friendly fire casualties…that means that he has killed almost no civilian while fighting."

"Oh," he could hear the light in her head.

"…Buffy, if you want my opinion," he sighed once before finishing, "You should let it go. Whatever you dish out at him, he will send back with a lot more firepower. And, if you do manage to kill him, the Sect will send someone, many volunteered someones, to kill you."

"I can handle them."

"These are not like the Tarakans," Angel told her angrily, "They won't stop if the money isn't there. They will want vengeance, and they will have it! I tangled with one of the hunters back in my prime…it was a normal human female…and I nearly died. The only reason why I didn't was because of the troop of soldiers coming nearby.

"Buffy, for your own good, try and move on."

With that, he hung up. He grasped the phone tightly, shutting his eyes as he did so, hating himself for being unable to do anything. But, this was a DSD hunter…no one, not even an army of vamps, perhaps, could handle an average member of them. To take on the main man for them with only a Slayer, an amateur Wicca, and a retired Watcher…

…it was nothing short of suicide.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Angel told me that Blitzkrieg refers to his weapons," Buffy explained to the group, "He's also too chicken to do anything about it, so…it's up to us."

"'Chicken,'" Willow asked meekly, "Angel? That doesn't sound right."

"He's scared of them, for some ungodly reason," Buffy whined, "So, we have to handle this on our own. Start by digging up information. I'll go by the Initiative, see if they have anything on this sect. You check with Spike."

"No problem," Willow said, she liked Spike.

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"…That's all," Faith asked in shock as Xander finished talking to her, "Well, do you want me to run around the whole, damn planet in three days for you? Do you want me to jump so high I can go through the fucking atmosphere? Do you want me to take on Arnie and NOT land a movie role!"

"Actually," she turned her attention to her left on the screen as Tara came back into view, "I think you'd look good in a movie…so long as you replace Arnie with Kate Beckinsale."

"That's a script I can get behind," Xander said, his eyes going out of focus as he thought…with Tara not too far behind.

"HEY, GUYS," she shouted, causing both them and the Special Forces members of the Sect to stare at her, "QUIT THINKING IN THE GUTTER! I NEED MY SPACE, FOR GOD'S SAKES!"

"…Ok," Xander said, "Look, it comes down to this…you help us, we get you a presidential pardon. You can walk right into the LAPD HQ and spit in the Commissioner's coffee and not be locked up for the murder charges. Otherwise, they might lock you up for assaulting a police officer. Hard to tell."

"…" She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't tempted…to be free of her crimes…even though she still hated Buffy, she had always understood what was right and what was wrong. To her, Buffy was a monster that needed to be brought down…and the Mayor had been, like, the protagonist to her play. Even though she had known he was a bad guy, she hadn't actually **known** it. Not in the literal sense.

Besides, from what he was talking about, the stakes were way too high to ignore.

"I'm in."

_The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger_

"Spike," Willow called as she entered the neutered vampire's crypt, "Spiky? Yoo-Hoo!"

She closed the door behind her and pulled out her bag of blood that she had gotten for him on the way by.

"Spike," she called out, "I brought some blood. Come and get it while it's still…" she came to a halt as she found herself stepping in a pile of abnormally thick dust. She bent down and carefully inspected the pile, fearing the worst…fears which were confirmed when she found a cigarette in the pile.

"No," she whispered in disbelief, "No…it can't be."

Slowly, she looked up at the wall…there, written in bright, red letters, was a phrase…

'THE YELLOW CRAYON MEANS NOTHING TO ME NOW!

SINCERELY YOURS,

_ALEXANDER HARRIS _'


End file.
